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Skirmish on Rattatak
The Skirmish on Rattatak was only tangentially related to the Xen'Chi War as it served to act as a trial by fire for Operation Bad Neighbor and Squad 13. The attack was started by a Rattataki warlord named Geliak Otorook, one of several warlords who stepped in to fill the power vacuum left by Asajj Ventress after she disappeared at the end of the Clone Wars. After discovering Teron Helstone's secret base on the planet, he sought to acquire the technology within so he'd be able to conquer his rivals and rule Rattatak. However he appeared to badly underestimate Helstone and his army, which ultimately led to his defeat and death. =The Battle= Opening Shot Geliak Otorook launched a surprise attack against the Imperial base in the dead of night by loading an old transport full of explosives and sending it to destroy the base's perimeter wall. His army stormed the base once the wall was down and engaged the Imperial troops within, however Helstone's 11th Battle Group proved to be superior in every way and were able to repel the invaders from the base in short order. Once Otorook's army had been forced to retreat back into the rocky wasteland, Helstone ordered the Pitiless to bombard the area and wipe out all traces of the warlord's forces. Then, as a test to see the effectiveness of the newly created Squad 13, he ordered Solan Phota to take his people and eliminate anyone who had survived the orbital bombardment. Moping Up The remnants of Otorook's army proved to be no match for Squad 13's abilities as the squad split into three groups to cover the most ground. Once the surface had been cleared, Solan got a report from fellow squad member Jolsk Makan about the discovery of a tunnel network that harbored more of Otorook's army. Jolsk had taken the initiative and sent in two squad members, Vogar Gruer and Baxar, to investigate. Unbeknownst to anyone, Helstone had been well aware of the tunnels, thanks to the base's seismic sensors, and had been planning a trap for months by digging another tunnel that connected to an underground reservoir. With Otorook and his army holed up in the tunnels, Helstone detonated the explosives that separated the reservoir from the rest of the tunnels and flooded the entire underground area. While Baxar was just barely able to escape in time, Gruer was not, and ended up drowning. =Aftermath= Although several members of Squad 13 were angry about Gruer's senseless death, Helstone was unrepentant. As he relayed to Solan in the debriefing, Squad 13 had been ordered to only clear the surface of survivors. Jolsk Makan had exceeded his orders by sending Gruer and Baxar into the tunnels without even bothering to inform anyone else first. The squad hadn't been informed about the trap because Helstone had deemed that they didn't need to know about it; he was the general, they were the troops. While this didn't sit well with some members of Squad 13, Solan agreed with the general, and perhaps more importantly, so did Jolsk. Gruer's death helped the various mercenaries of Squad 13 realize that they needed to act as one unit and this would prove to make them a more effective fighting force in the future. Helstone and his forces left Rattatak soon afterwards to assist in the Xen'Chi War, scuttling the base before leaving to make sure no one else could use it. Category:Halomek